While Canada is gearing up to celebrate its 150th birthday, one of my favourite Canadian companies, Live Clean, is celebrating a birthday of its own! 2017 marks ten years since Live Clean debuted its first six eco-friendly shampoos and conditioners to Canadians and while the product line has expanded, the company’s values have stayed the same for the past decade. Today, the company continues to take pride in providing products that are cruelty-free, free of harmful chemicals and made of locally-sourced, plant-based ingredients.

Over the last few years, I’ve had the chance to try dozens of the products in the Live Clean collection for babies, children, men and women! And it goes without saying that I’ve got a few fast favourites after all my trials and testing. So, in honour of Live Clean’s 10th birthday, I’m sharing my thoughts on the top ten must-try Live Clean products!

When it comes to the clothes I wear, I choose fashions that are versatile, functional and make me look and feel fabulous. Whether I’m slipping into comfy pants and a tank top to run my boys to school or dressing up for a special event, a great outfit has me brimming with confidence when I step out the door. But I didn’t often think about whether the clothing I chose was as good for the earth as it was for me. That all changed recently when I was introduced to Leave Nothing But Footprints!

LNBF is a Canadian-based clothing company specializing in fashions that respect the earth and look fantastic. Offering organic cotton, Tencel and bamboo-based viscose pieces, this clothing is timeless, elegant and a great choice for eco-conscious shoppers. Taking its name from the “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories” philosophy, the company provides pieces for women that want to protect the earth without sacrificing style and quality. Recently I had the chance to choose a few bamboo-based pieces so that I could experience the difference for myself. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait!

I chose the Diana Ponte Dress, Darcy Slim Pants, Avant Top and Maya Jacket to review. I thought the pants, shirt and jacket would make a great fall outfit for both casual and semi-casual wear when paired together, and I just couldn’t resist adding the classy Diana dress to my clothing collection too! When the pieces arrived, I slipped into them to see how they looked and felt. [Read more…]

With one child in Grade Two and one child in Pre-Kindergarten, I will be packing one lunch and one healthy snack every school day for the next year. And while I actually rather enjoy packing lunches for my boys, I am adamant that the items I pack produce as little waste as possible. I love finding handy reusable lunch gear that’s fun for my boys and good for the environment!

Recently LunchSkins contacted me and asked me to review its handy reusable sandwich and snack bags and I couldn’t wait. I received a sandwich and snack bag for each of my boys in blue and red colours with fun sports and robot designs. The bags were so cute and had me eager to pack up some snacks for my kids.

My love of eco-friendly cleaning products is something I’ve spoken about often. I don’t like poisonous chemicals in my house and so I’m always looking for great eco-friendly products that still power through dirt and grime. While I appreciate products that are safe for the environment, the truth is that I’m actually far more concerned about the cleaners I use being safe for my family.

Recently, a new line of cleaning products called Earth Rescue was introduced in Canada and the brand promised plant-derived formulas that were biodegradable and free of solvents and VOCs. I received a few of the products to test out and I couldn’t wait.

One of the highlights of the month for me is always receiving the latest LittleEcoFootprint subscription box full of eco-friendly products for mom and baby. In May, the company celebrated mothers with a great collection of indulgent goodies just for Mom and in June, LittleEcoFootprint decided to celebrate summer with a special Beach Time Fun subscription box!

Benjamin happened to be with me when I opened the June box and he was so excited about checking out the contents. This month’s box contained Belly Buttons & Babies sunscreen, the new Caspar BabypantsThis is Fun children’s CD, the summer 2013 edition of EcoParent magazine, a $5 SoRad gift certificate, a Melissa & Doug Seaside Sidekicks Sand Moulding Set, an At The Beach board book from Priddy Books and a Squooshi Reusable Food Pouch!

We happen to have a sandbox in the back yard so the sand moulding set was something that Benjamin wanted to test out right away. We headed to the back yard and spent some time in the sandbox creating fun ocean creatures with the different shapes. And the best part was that the moulds all stack neatly inside the large turtle so that storing these sand toys is simple and doesn’t take up too much space.